Archive of Articles by Noel

Nova Scotia is a small province. Many runners that pound the sidewalks or quiet rural roads do so alone much of the time. Some runners search or stumble across a coach to guide them. Cliff Matthews was one of those. I grew up running in Nova Scotia for many years and trained with

Whether you remember his name or not, you have seen Scott Russell on CBC Sports. Scott has been a recognizable face of Canadian sporting events on television for a number of years. Scott Russell Scott is a 56-year-old CBC Sports broadcaster who has covered 12 Olympics, world

The term local is relative. We all have hometowns and hometown runs and races. Running events, their race directors, the runners that line up and the local elite all come together for a race. The fast guys and gals are the fastest in the area. This week’s blog is about a race and

Lizzy Hughes is a 19-year-old student from Waterloo, Ont., in her first year of university at Wilfred Laurier where she is studying to eventually become a naturopathic doctor. Lizzy is also a runner. Running started when she was 16 and the fear of being chubby spurred her into

Jeff Enfield is a 37-year-old runner and dad to two young boys from Toronto who has been lacing up since his own high school days. Running more competitively since 2005, Jeff joined Toronto Olympic Club in 2007 and his race times started dropping. Jeff’s half-marathon personal

Barry Britt is a 24-year-old runner with a dream to day wear Canada’s colours on the national team. Barry is the oldest of three children. He grew up with his 2 two sisters, Chelsea and Zoe, and his parents in Hampton, N.B., in what he describes as a very active,

Earl Fee is 85, was born in Elstow, Sask., (the same tiny town where another masters running legend, Olga Kotolka was born) and could probably beat you in a race. He’s a tall, lean, fit man who looks much younger than his age. Despite being a decent younger runner growing

Jean-Paul Bedard is a veteran of over 100 marathons and ultramarathons, including a publicized double running of the Boston Marathon. He is also an author, blogger, public speaker and advocate for survivors of sexual assault. He openly talks about struggling with a past of

Mike Thornton is a lean, 23-year-old runner from Brantford, Ont. The young Canadian runner I met through being an ambassador for the 2014 Toronto marathon has one younger brother and mentions that his family is originally from England. Born and raised in Brantford, Mike works as

This week’s blog is about someone facing a life-changing challenge and using running to deal with it. Jennifer Jennifer Lewandowski is a 32-year-old runner and triathlete from Dartmouth, N.S. A personal trainer and writer, she’s completed two Ironman triathlons and

The running community is full of talented people who also have interesting stories. This week’s blog is about Canadian-American elite runner Natasha LaBeaud Anzures. Natasha is a dual citizen. Her mother grew up in Montreal and her dad grew up in New Orleans, La. She has family

This week’s blog profile is of a newer runner from Calgary, Alta. who has dove right into running. Devin Featherstone shared his story. Devin Featherstone Devin is a lean, dark-haired former hockey player from Calgary with a newfound love for long miles. Like many Canadian kids,

“Every step, every time out the door for a run is a new beginning, a new journey on the open road.” Hussain Albeer Hussain is a 21 years old Iraqi runner. He lived in Dubai for 13 years and in 2012 moved to Canada. He was motivated to start running after meeting Haile

I started as a middle distance runner and have gradually run longer and longer races including the marathon and beyond. I distinctly remember my first marathon, it had a different pain than the grind of a 1500m race. While training for my first marathon, I signed up for a race so

One mile – four laps of the track, interrupted by four beers, run and chugged in the fastest time possible. That’s a beer mile. Bob and Doug MacKenzie would be proud. The beer mile is a crazy brew of running and drinking. The current rules and origin of the competitive

“We are not dark-skinned Kenyans training under a hot sky, but Canadians are tough and battle through cold winters. Canucks are frostbitten, cold-hardened with maple syrup in our veins.” Often times it is hard to say what being Canadian is, often it seems easier to say what we